


I didn't sign up for this

by historicallyredacted (lockandkey)



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, M/M, coming to terms with sexuality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-09
Updated: 2016-07-09
Packaged: 2018-07-22 12:42:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7439809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lockandkey/pseuds/historicallyredacted
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nico and Will end up the unwilling guides to Leo's messy romantic life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I didn't sign up for this

**Author's Note:**

> It's my birthday and I spend it writing this. why.

  
  
The first time Nico noticed it, was during the Apollo escapade. His eyes had lingered a bit longer than Nico would have thought normal. Apollo was standing there, in his preferred form, for the entire world to see. Everyone was sort of taken with the God - it was a God, after all; but, it wasn’t a blatant stare, it was out of the corner of his eye like he was keeping it a secret.   
  
That was the first time Nico wondered if Leo Valdez liked men.   
  
Immediately, Nico threw the thought away, Leo had Calypso. Leo had never hidden his preference for pretty girls they came in contact with before Calypso, either. Leo was straight…Right?  
  
But the looks kept happening.   
Retrospectively, the most important moment was the night that Nico watched as Leo slowly appraised Jason, who had just come from the beach dripping wet and shirtless. Again, it wasn’t just a look, it was a _look_. It was a look he didn’t want to be seen, because the moment Leo turned his head and met Nico’s curious gaze, he flinched.   
They never spoke of it, Nico never asked him about that look, the look before, or the ones to come aimed at others.   
  
Nico kept telling himself he was wrong; there was no way, maybe he was simply…projecting? There was no need to talk to Will, Hazel, or anyone else. Especially _not_ Leo.   
  
And then Calypso left, less than half a year later. Everyone was shocked, but Nico. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he was expecting this to happen.   
It was a rough break up, one that was led up to with tense moments and bickering. Calypso growing more and more uncomfortable in camp, and Leo pretending everything was fine up until the moment she simply left. None of Leo’s closer friends were around to mitigate the problem, and none of his siblings were much better than Leo was at dealing with people.   
  
“You’ve always known, right?” Nico muttered over his cocoa, a few days later. Will glanced up from his textbooks, confused.  
  
“Known what? Why do you do this? You always start conversations like I’ve been a part of them for a week, but I’m not, Nico. I’m not. You need to explain more than that.”  
  
“That you’re gay?” Will sent him a questioning smile after a moment.   
  
“Uh, yeah, basically? I mean, we spent a lot of time in the south, but my mom never hid anything like that from me. So, yeah, I knew as soon anyone else starts getting crushes. I don’t think there was any one moment I was like, oh, I’m gay.”  
  
“Have you ever met anyone who…didn’t? Or, who hid it a lot longer?” Will was giving Nico that look, where he was growing increasingly annoyed at Nico being increasingly vague.  
  
“A few, sure. I read forums too, magazines when they existed. One of the musicians my mom worked with, she said she didn’t realize or accept she liked girls until her late teens, early twenties. She thought guys were attractive, but no relationship felt right. She convinced herself that all her crushes on girls were just friendship, something like that. Why?”  
  
Nico bit his lip, “I think someone we know might be in denial. But, it isn’t my place to do or say anything to them about it.”  
  
Will raised his eyebrows, “you’re right. It isn’t your place. But, you can always be a friend to them, make sure they know no one will ever blame them or think differently about them…Just, out of curiosity, who?”  
  
“…Leo.” Will snort-laughed in surprised. His boyfriend was so uncute.  
  
“Oh my gods, _Leo_? Really? We’re talking about the guy who called his ex _mamacita_ , right?”  
  
“I’m not saying he doesn’t like girls!” Nico huffed. “I’m just saying…I’m pretty sure I saw him checking out a few guys.”   
  
Will nodded, looking extremely unconvinced.   
  
A week later, Nico and Will were walking along a path out towards the training ground when they happened upon Leo and…was that Michael Kahale? The Roman man was carrying something large and mechanical, and Leo seemed to be gesturing where to take it. Nico knew some Roman troops were here, training, but he hadn’t seen much of them. As far as Greeks and Romans had come, both still mostly stuck by each other.   
  
“Uh, what you got there?” Will called, and Leo looked up, startled.   
  
“Propulsion cannon,” Michael answered, nodding once at Nico. “Seeing how I helped kill him, I figured I’d help.”  
  
Leo grinned and patted Michael on the back, hand lingering just a bit too long. “And we appreciate it very much. I can’t get Frank to lug all my stuff around, as much as I ask. It’s not anything super dangerous, anyway. Well, it is. But, only to monsters. ”  
  
“Glad to help,” Michael’s gaze stayed on Leo a bit too long too, and he had a small smile that Nico had never seen before on him.    
Nico hadn’t seen much of Michael since Octavian’s death, he actually assumed Michael had left camp. Seeing him with Leo was…not expected. They didn’t seem like the types to get along.   
Nico and Will exchanged a very slow glance before nodding deftly at the two.   
  
“Uh, right. So. Yeah. Sure. Okay. …So. Um, we’ll…we have to go.” Will began to gesture awkwardly, before grabbing Nico’s had and speeding by.   
Not fast enough not to hear Leo say, “hey, you look hot. You’re sweating a lot. Maybe you should take your shirt off?”  
  
As soon as they were around the bend, Will was shaking Nico’s shoulders. “Flirting! Flirting, Nico! Flirting! Big time, serious, flirting!”  
  
Nico smacked off his hands, before crossing his arms. “I told you.”  
  
“Okay, so, okay. So. Right. Michael…what was it? Kahale? He was definitely flirty. But, was Leo?”  
  
“You should strip for me, Michael, carry all my big heavy things for me so I can see your biceps,” Nico said in a mock high pitched voice that sounded nothing like Leo. Will narrowed his eyes but didn’t say anything else.   
  
“So, we can’t do or say anything, right? That’d be wrong. Oh, my gods, I can’t…I need to talk to Piper, no, wait, I can’t.”  
  
“Can’t what?” They froze, and slowly turned to face Leo standing a few feet away. Nico could sneak up on people, that was fine, but other people were not allowed to sneak up on Nico. It was just against the rules.  
  
“Can’t…not..shop at tomorrow’s sale on kidney beans?” Will gasped out after a moment, and Nico smacked him in the shoulder. Leo stared blankly at the two.  
  
“Right…cool, so…anyway…about Michael…”  
  
“We won’t tell anyone anything, it’s your business. Just…know everyone…is. You know.” Nico waved his hand awkwardly. “I may have had everyone punch you repeatedly in the past, but, we’re friends. So.”  
  
Leo cocked his head. “Okay, I mean, you can if you want to. It’s just kind of awkward.”  
  
“Right, I understand.”  
  
“He’s so, you know. Tall, dark, handsome, _muscles_ , the whole package. His dad was a linebacker, you know?” Leo sighed. “I really want him to be my wingman for picking up chicks.”  
  
Nico and Will openly gaped.   
“W-wingman?”  
  
“Uh, duh?” Leo frowned. “Wait, what were you talking about?”  
  
“No, that, definitely. We were just…thinking of another word...for…wingman. Uh. Feather…friend- we need to go now.” Nico pulled a spluttering Will away once again, leaving a befuddled Leo behind.  
  
“Never again, I’m never ever again talking to him,” Nico growled, tugging along Will for the rest of the way. “I don’t understand straight boys, never, never going to.”  
  
-  
  
A week later, Leo tracked them down, confliction all over his face.   
  
“Hey, Neeks-“  
  
“Don’t ever call me that ever in any life ever.”  
  
“Hey, so, Nico. I need to ask you something. How do you, uh, let a guy down?” Leo was bouncing from one foot to the other, looking more skittish than usual.  
  
“Michael?” Nico and Will answered in tandem, and Leo seemed surprised.   
  
“How did you know? Well, doesn’t matter. So.” Leo scratched the back of his head, leaving a curl of hair sticking up oddly at an angle. “Things have been great, right, we’ve been hanging out a lot. It’s…it’s been nice. I didn’t know why at first he’d even want to hang out near me, thought maybe it was guilt or something. He told me about the Octavian thing, but said it wasn’t why, at least not anymore. I wasn’t really sure how to take that… but… Everyone else has kind of paired up and gone their own ways…Jason and Piper are off. Hazel and Frank are in California…It’s just. It’s nice having a friend, after…you know, Calypso. “  
  
“…Right,” Nico felt a bit sheepish, he could have made a point to hang out with Leo more, but while they _were_ friends…they just weren’t ever super close. In all honesty, Nico felt just a tiny bit guilty, as he probably talked to Jason now more than Jason spoke to Leo.  
  
“And, Mike is great! Like, he’s really quiet, which is nice, because I’m either talking too much or not talking for like 3 days at a time because I’m working on something. But, so, he reminds me to take breaks and stuff, and actually seems to find me funny sometimes. That’s…not common.” Leo faltered, actually, visibly looking lost. “Festus likes him too… It’s just been cool, hanging out, flying around, walking around, cooking tacos and stuff at 3am. But, so, all of a sudden, he’s like. I like you. Like _like_ likes me.” Leo was speaking stupidly quickly, pacing, and waving his arms. “I don’t know what to do!”  
  
Leo sighed, before ruffling up his own hair again, this time with both hands. “No one, I mean no one, has ever liked to watch me work. Piper, Jason, Hazel, Calypso. They just, they tolerate it...But, Mike…It’s like he actually likes to be around me for long periods of time. I don’t get it.”  
  
“So…you don’t like him… back? Romantically?” Will asked very cautiously, wringing his hands, and looking over at Nico briefly.  
  
“He’s amazing and perfect!” Leo yelled, aggravated. “But I’m not gay!”  
  
“Well, I mean, just…tell him you don’t feel the same way?” Will said, stepping forward. “It’s like…any other relationship. You’re not required to return their feelings, it doesn’t matter if they’re gay...straight, whatever.”  
  
“Okay, but, I’ve just never…been on this side of things before. Even with Calypso, there was no…confessing. It just, happened. And, I mean…” Leo shook his head. “Ugh, it’s stupid.”  
  
“What?” Nico narrowed his eyes.   
  
“I …kinda wish I was? Like, I’d date him. If I was gay. Which I am not. I am very straight. I like girls.”  
  
“You could…like girls, and like boys?” Will suggested, and Leo frowned.   
  
“I feel like I would know by now if I liked dudes. Like, sure, I’ve had boy-crushes, but I’m not _gay_.”  
  
“That’s literally just a crush, or friendship, Leo.” Nico huffed, it was a source of contention for him. “No such thing as boy-crushes. Besides, crushes _on_ boys.” Leo started to speak but Will cut him off.  
  
“What Nico is saying is, sexuality doesn’t have to be an all or nothing thing. You can be gay, and like a few girls in some cases, or be straight but like some men, or bi…or pan, and still have your preferences. It isn’t like, 100% or 50% one way or the other. Maybe…you just like the idea of dating… a very certain specific very attractive Hawaiian guy.” Will gently suggest, and Leo stayed quiet.  
  
“I… don’t know.”   
  
“You don’t have to immediately. Leo, you’re 15. We have time to work stuff out, make mistakes, fall in and out of love. You don’t have to know right now.”  
  
“I want to, and that’s very aggravating for me.” Leo bit out. “I’m not good with people and this sort of thing. I just want something quantifiable. I want an equation.”  
  
“…A …sexuality spectrum equation?”   
  
“Yes!” Leo said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Why doesn’t that exist?!”  
  
“Well, I mean, attempts have been made…just, not good ones. Humans, or…demigods aren’t that simple. Who we are might be innate, but we don’t generally have all the pieces of who that is for…a long time. Sexuality terminology isn’t perfect…it’s just a label we use to try and explain nature, but nature is messy.” Will was using his very best camp counselor voice, and Leo calmed down slightly, but still looked perturbed.   
“Leo, if you like Michael, but you’re not sure how you like him…just ask for more time. Or, try going out with him. The worst thing that could happen is you realize it isn’t what you want and you break up, and that isn’t the end of the world. You’ll be okay, no matter what. You’re the kid who came back from the dead, remember?“  
  
Leo looked away, “but…what if I do. If…if I ever dated a guy…and don’t like it. Won’t…I be.. _branded_?”  
  
Nico and Will both flinched slightly, the words were a bit insulting, but neither wanted to yell at Leo at the moment.  “When have you ever done as convention dictates?” Nico asked after a moment. “Just do what you want and if it isn’t what you want, then stop. Who cares what anyone else thinks, because none of your friends are going to hate you for it, and if they do, then they aren’t your friends.”  
  
Leo looked long and hard at the son of Hades, before he nodded once, then again, then hugged them both and ran off.   
  
-  
  
A week later, Michael Kahale and a few other Romans were headed back to their own camp. Nico and Will weren’t sure what had happened after they talked to Leo.   
  
“I was going to say just, screw it, and try dating,” Leo said later that night, at dinner, while repeatedly stabbing his flan. “But, I sort of froze up, and Mike was cool with it. He just said think about it more. We’ll talk more. But, you know, for now. It’s fine.” Leo sighed, before scooping up a bit. “Not sure who I’m going to watch Golden Girls with now, though. He made really good kettle corn…”  
  
“…I can make popcorn?” Will suggested, after a moment. Leo looked up and grinned.   
  
A few days later Jason and Piper got back.  
Nico didn’t know when Leo told them what happened, but it wasn’t too long before he saw Piper playfully nudging Leo and acting like his big sister all over again. He overheard her asking if Leo was going to talk to Michael again, she said with much emphasis on _again_.   
A part of Nico hurt, watching them, because sometimes it felt like watching Bianca and himself.  
-  
“I’m going to see Hazel,” Nico stated, making sure his sword was strapped on well. “Do you want to come with?”   
  
Leo took a moment, before nodding. He said it was because he wanted to see Hazel and Frank, it had been a month or better after all, but Nico was pretty sure he knew why Leo actually wanted to go to Camp Jupiter.   
  
Then Calypso showed up and threw a big wrench in the works. Leo was immediately torn again, and it wasn’t fun to witness.   
Nico left anyway, not needing to see that conflict play out more, but Iris messaging Will made it clear that things were not going well. Piper and Jason were playing buffer, while Leo and Calypso carefully worked around one another.   
On some level, they were friends - on another level, Calypso was 2000 years old and had an unintended tendency to treat Leo like a child. It didn’t help she had lost her magic, and while she didn’t exactly blame Leo, it was hard for her to be around him as he tried to help her.  Neither was really at fault, it just felt apart, and they needed different things.  
  
Michael didn’t speak to Nico virtually the entire time he was in New Rome, until near the end where he asked just once about Leo. After Nico told him a quick break down of what was happening, Michael paused, then simply walked away.   
The next day Michael Kahale had left New Rome on a chariot.   
  
Will just shook his head the next time Nico talked to him, looking exasperated. “Just, come home…at some point. The Aphrodite kids are circling like vultures, Nico.”  
  
When Nico finally did, he wasn’t entirely ready for what followed.   
  
Leo and Michael, holding hands.  
  
 It was…odd, to say the least.   
  
“Well, with Calypso back, I just…I wasn’t sure about anything, right? Like I said, I’m not good with emotions, romance, dating.” Or personal space, Nico thought, back up against a tree. ”But, when Mike got here, it was like, _oh thank gods_. I just wanted to grab his hand, haul him back to the bunker, and just hide my face in his shirt until my brain stopped…doing what it was doing. I guess that sort of made it clear to me. I’m… not sure where it’s going but, I just wanted him near me, and he was there. Calypso and I talked too, after a while …you know, it’s weird, but I think we talked through it. I think she was a bit upset that I started dating before she did, but, we’re good. I think.”  
  
“Right…uh, congrats?” Nico needed him to stop talking, for the love of Hades, he needed to stop talking. Leo tried to fist bump Nico.   
  
-  
  
When they were 22 and 24 respectively, Michael and Leo got married. They were the first of any of the 7 to do so, just narrowly beating out Percy and Annabeth by a few months.   
  
“I knew he liked guys, “Nico said over champagne. Will frowned at the metal bouquet Leo set to fly off into the sky. It was going into space, as a satellite.  
  
“This is the weirdest wedding I’ve ever experienced.” Will glanced around the beach. It looked like a space craft had crash landed in a Greco-Roman themed Hawaiian resort. Half those who were attending were robots and droids. “Most people adopt children, or dogs, or cats. I mean, don’t get me wrong, the thought of Leo having children scares me.”  
  
Michael was smiling, mostly with his eyes because Leo kept trying to go up on tippy toes and shove cake into his husband's face.   
  
“They’re cute, though, so very weird, but cute.” Will’s drink had a mini-umbrella sticking out of it, with Mayan drawings all over it. Piper, Frank, Hazel, Apollo, Calypso, and Jason were sniffling the loudest. Jason was pretending not to be, while Meg was looking embarrassed on Apollo’s sake.  
  
“Aren’t they technically step-siblings?” Nico asked, taking a bite of pork and poi. “Hephaestus, Venus.”  
  
“Are you purposely trying to make this weirder than it already is?” Will watched as fireworks exploded in the sky above.   
The newly weds were getting ready to go on their honeymoon via Festus drawn carriage.   
  
“Imagine if they ever do have kids…”  
  
“Please stop.”  
  
\---  
  
  
Leo huffed at the machine in front of him, which refused to start. Well, it would, but it needed someone with considerable more bulk than what Leo possessed, and Frank hadn’t been around for a few weeks.  
  
“Can I help with that?” Leo’s head jerked up in the direction of the voice and focused on a considerably tall guy. Frank’s height, weight about, but didn’t have the baby face going on. The guy was obviously Roman, judging by the hair and shirt.   
  
“Can…you pull this cord?” Leo asked cautiously, taking a step backward. The guy shrugged a shoulder and walked closer.   
  
“Wait,” Leo’s nose wrinkled. “I know you. You’re…someone. You were with Octavian.”  
  
“Yeah,” the guy said simply, before yanking the cord and the engine roared to life. “I’m Michael. Michael Kahale. I’m the guy who killed Octavian, and you.”  
  
Leo froze, opening his mouth, but a hand waved him off.  
  
“It’s all said and done, I don’t have a grudge or anything.”  
  
“O-oh,” Leo bounced from one foot to the other. “Sucks about your friend going insane?”  
  
Michael shrugged another shoulder. “Um, so, you want to see Festus?”  
  
“Happy?” Michael raised an eyebrow. Leo nodded. “My dragon. He’s my best friend.”  
  
“Sure.”  
  
-  
  
“I really don’t know who my favorite is,” Leo mumbled between bites of kettle corn. “Like, Dorothy is best, but, I mean. Betty White is bae.” Michael said nothing, just crossed his legs.   
  
“Did you know Mario Lopez was in an episode? Before Saved By the Bell? Crazy right? So was, oh, what’s his face-“  
  
“Leo, I like you.”  
  
“…George Clooney.” Leo finished before the words caught up to his brain. “Oh, um, yeah. You too, buddy. It’s been fun hanging out.”  
  
Michael turned and gave Leo this look. “I like you romantically, as in I would like to date you. I would like to be your boyfriend.”  
  
Leo’s hand fell limply into the bowl of popcorn. “Wow, uh, wow. You…really gave me no room to misconstrue that, didn’t you.” Michael nodded.  
  
“…I…I..don’t..”  
  
“It’s fine, just think about it. You don’t have to answer immediately. I just felt it was right that you know.”  
  
Until he left for the Roman cabin, Leo sat in a complete brain fog. After Michael left, Leo’s brain went into panic mode, and he spent all night pacing around the bunker.  
It wasn’t fair. Leo didn’t want to lose the best friend he had made in ...since Piper and Jason, really.  
  
-  
  
Leo ran back to find Michael after talking to Will and Nico. They were right, weren’t they? If it wasn’t what Leo wanted, he could just end it.   
But, what if it hurt Michael? What if they stopped being friends after, like Calypso had?  
Leo’s run slowed down to a trot. Why was this so hard? Why did it have to be one or the other?  
  
“Leo,” Michael’s voice shook him out of his stupor. “I’m going to have to go back to camp day after tomorrow.”  
  
Leo tugged on a bit of his own hair and bit down on his lip. Why did it have to happen like this?  
  
“Mike, I uh, I need to…so, you, and me…I…so, we should...you know…the…date.”  
  
“Leo, I don’t want to force you into anything. If you’re not sure, we can wait. Don’t worry about it. You don’t have to decide anything right now.” Perfect person, Leo exhaled a breath he didn’t know he was keeping.  
  
“We…can still be friends?” Leo asked cautiously, and Michael nodded like it was obvious.  
  
“We can still be friends regardless. Even if we date and it doesn’t work out.”   
Why did he know the exact right things to say?  
  
-  
  
Calypso brought back artifacts, news, and other squashed down emotions Leo didn’t like. She was beautiful, as usual, smart, as always. And much like the first number of times they ever interacted, didn’t look thrilled to see Leo.   
  
“I think we should talk,” she said, looking calm and collected. Leo muttered something in agreement, moving around his work bench.  
  
“Leo, you’ll always be special to me, but-“  
  
“But, I’m acting like a child, or I’m too loud, or I’m being too overbearing. Right?” He slammed a hammer down onto a nail, while Calypso eyed him wearily.   
  
“Because I want to go out and see the world, because I spent thousands of years by myself and I’m just not ready to be in a relationship, because…” Calypso took a breath in. “Leo, you deserve what I can’t give you now. Maybe someday I could, but not now. I didn’t want to hurt you anymore. I’m sorry.”  
  
Calypso left, and Leo didn’t know what more to say. Didn’t know what more could be said. She was probably right, but it wasn’t all her fault. Leo didn’t know anything about being a boyfriend, didn’t know how to be in a couple, he just thought he needed to be in one back then. That obviously didn’t turn out great.  
  
When Michael showed up a few days later, Leo wanted to cry. He seemed to be there when Leo needed him most, knew exactly what to say, but Leo was scared.  
  
“I really…really wanted to see you,” Leo whispered, barely audible. “But, I don’t know how to do this, I don’t know…I don’t know what I want.”  
  
“You don’t have to know everything, I don’t.” Michael ran his hand over his head. “I was friends with Octavian.” Leo snorted, trying not to laugh and or cry on his shirt.  
“I’ll respect if you want me to leave, I’ll respect if you’re not sure yet, or even if you are. But, Leo, are…you really sure you don’t know what you want?”  
  
“I…wanted you here,” Leo said, stepping back. “I just wanted you here.”  
  
“Then I’m here.” That was it, that was really the only thing Leo needed to hear then.  
  
“That’s good, that’s- ” Leo laughed and wiped at his eyes. “That’s good.”   
  
And then Leo reached for Michael’s hands.  
  
-  
  
“Here,” Nico pushed a gift into Leo’s hands. They hadn’t been home from their honeymoon for very long.   
  
“Wedding present?” Leo grinned, tearing at the package. Michael was in the other room sorting moving boxes.   
  
“Yeah,” Nico looked nervous. “From my dad.”  
  
Leo paused, before placing the gift down slowly. “That’s…uh, very kind. I’ll…open it later.”  
  
“Probably a good idea,” Nico let out a puff of breath. “So…you’re married.”  
  
“I am,” Leo nodded. “Beat all you lovebirds. Suckers.”  
  
“Yeah, you did. I mean, after you guys started dating, I don’t think any of us are surprised.”  
  
Leo laughed, standing up to pour Nico some wine. “You know why, right?”  
  
“Because you were ogling his biceps and thighs at age 15?”  
  
“Son of Venus, man. We got this love stuff on lock down.” Michael walked into the kitchen, just in time for Leo to raise his hand and high five his husband, before venturing down the hallway for more boxes.  
  
“I think I knew you liked men before any one else on the planet,” Nico mused, taking a sip. Leo hummed over his own glass.   
  
“Pretty sure Mike knew, but, yeah. Weird right?”  
  
“Ever get to making that sexuality equation?” Nico joked, or tried to, he was never great at jokes.  
  
“Sure did!” Leo grinned widely. “I just based it on the existing color hex code, but turned it into a three-dimensional-“  
  
Nico held up a hand, “I’m going to stop you there.”  
  
“I’m a 41705AX25,” Leo smirked. “I’d bet you’re more…AD86C58K.”  
  
“Was that an insult?” Nico asked dryly, to which Leo simply laughed.


End file.
